1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to chemiluminescent 1,2-dioxetane derivatives which can be enzymatically activated to decompose and, through decomposition, release light. The dioxetanes are particularly characterized by the presence of an aromatic (phenyl or naphthyl) ring bonded to the dioxetane, which ring bears a meta-substituted or disjoint enzymatically cleavable group, which when cleaved, leaves the phenoxyanion or naphthyloxyanion of the dioxetane, and, at the four or preferably the five position, an electron donating or electron withdrawing group. By selecting the identity of the substituent at the four or five position (the Z moiety) particular aspects of the chemiluminescent properties of the dioxetane, including half life, quantum yield, S/N ratio, etc., can be altered.
2. Background of the Invention
1,2-dioxetane enzyme substrates have been well established as highly efficient chemiluminescent reporter molecules for use in enzyme immunoassays of a wide variety of types. These assays provide a preferred alternative to conventional assays that rely on radioisotopes, fluorophores, complicated color shifting, secondary reactions and the like. Dioxetanes developed for this purpose include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,614 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,960. U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,614 discloses, among others, 3-(2'-spiroadamantane)4-methoxy-4-(3"-phosphoryloxy)phenyl-1,2-dioxetane, which has received world-wide attention, and is commercially available under the trade name AMPPD. U.S. Pat. No. 5,112,960, discloses similar compounds, wherein the adamantyl stabilizing ring is substituted, at either bridgehead position, with a variety of substituents, including hydroxy, halogen, and the like, which convert the otherwise static or passive adamantyl stabilizing group into an active group involved in the kinetics of decomposition of the dioxetane ring. Compounds of this type have similarly received international attention, giving a faster and stronger signal than AMPPD in many applications. CSPD corresponds to AMPPD with a chlorine substituent on the adamantyl group, and, like AMPPD, is available from Tropix, Inc. of Bedford, Mass.
Compounds of this type have been particularly developed for enhanced sensitivity in assays for the presence of analytes in concentrations as low as 10.sup.-12 M and lower. In certain applications, compounds of this type are used in conjunction with enhancers to detect analytes in concentrations of 10.sup.-12 M or lower. These enhancement agents, which include natural and synthetic water-soluble macromolecules, are disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,772. Preferred enhancement agents include water-soluble polymeric quaternary ammonium salts, such as poly(vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium chloride) (TMQ), poly(vinylbenzyltributylammonium chloride) (TBQ) and poly(vinylbenzyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride) (BDMQ).
These enhancement agents improve the chemiluminescent signal of the dioxetane reporter molecules, apparently by providing a hydrophobic environment in which the dioxetane is sequestered. Water, an unavoidable aspect of most assays, due to the use of body fluids, is a natural "quencher" of the dioxetane chemiluminescence. The enhancement molecules apparently exclude water from the microenvironment in which the dioxetane molecules, or at least the excited state emitter species reside, resulting in enhanced chemiluminescence. Other effects associated with the enhancer-dioxetane interaction could also contribute to the chemiluminescence enhancement.
Additional advantages can be secured by the use of selected membranes, including nylon membranes and treated nitrocellulose, providing a similarly hydrophobic surface for membrane-based assays, and other membranes coated with the enhancer-type polymers described.
Nonetheless, it remains a general goal of the industry to improve the performance of these stabilized, chemiluminescent dioxetane reporter molecules, to improve the machine readability, sensitivity, and performance aspects of the immunoassays, dependent on the chemiluminescent signal released by the dioxetanes.
By way of background, and as disclosed in all the patents referenced above, the enzymatically-activated dioxetanes are used as reporter molecules, as substrates for enzymes which cleave the enzyme-labile group bonded to an aromatic substituent on the dioxetane ring. Thus, the enzyme, e.g., alkaline phosphatase, is covalently linked or otherwise complexed with either an antigen or antibody, in conventional antigen/antibody ligand binding assays, or a nucleic acid probe in nucleic acid assays. The enzyme-bearing antigen or antibody, or nucleic acid probe, is then admixed with the analyte suspected of containing the target antigen, or nucleic acid sequence, under conditions which permit complexing or hybridization between the antigen/antibody or probe/nucleic acid sequence. After washing away or separating off all noncomplexed or nonhybridized material, the dioxetane substrate is added. If the suspected analyte is present, the enzyme will cleave the enzyme-labile group on the aromatic substituent on the dioxetane, e.g., phenyl or naphthyl, yielding the phenoxy or naphthyloxy anion intermediate. This anion decomposes, by electron transfer through the aromatic ring, cleaving the dioxetane ring, and yielding two carbonyl-based products. The cleavage/decomposition event is the light-releasing event.
To automate clinical assays, and to provide for substantial throughput, continued reductions in the halflife, or T.sub.1/2 of the dioxetane, as well as a reduction in the amount of time required to reach the maximum emission of light of the reporter molecule, is desirable. At the same time, to detect analytes in extremely low concentrations, below, e.g., about 10.sup.-12 M, it is desirable to improve the intensity of the signal of the dioxetane reporter molecule, and simultaneously desirable to avoid increasing the background noise due to nonenzymatically-induced light release, so as to improve the overall sensitivity of the assay. Thus, further improvements in chemiluminescent dioxetane reporter molecules are sought.